to always have a set topic and if possible also presentation prepared.
These talks all start with a speaker. Do you mean we should have a set topic for the videochat rooms afterwards? It seems that the main event should provide a topic of conversation, though I admit that even then, breaking the ice is often difficult.
> Are you tracking where attendees come from? (% email, % type of Facebook group, Not precisely, but the email list (opt-in and specific to this meetup series) seems the best. Back when SlateStarCodex was live, the link there was even more valuable.
> Do you know why the attendees come to a talk? (mostly for a speaker/topic, social interaction with like-minded people, other reasons?)
I do not really know, but I think that they are there to hear an interesting talk and specifically for the speaker, as different talks get very different numbers of attendees. A good fraction (half or more) stay for the conversation afterwards, so I guess they are there for that too.
> Is there something specific that you do for people who join for the first time, or give instructions on how to get the most out of the meetup?
The first two minutes explain how it works and encourage people to do things like turn on the video. What other instructions were you thinking of?
These talks all start with a speaker. Do you mean we should have a set topic for the videochat rooms afterwards? It seems that the main event should provide a topic of conversation, though I admit that even then, breaking the ice is often difficult.
> Are you tracking where attendees come from? (% email, % type of Facebook group,
Not precisely, but the email list (opt-in and specific to this meetup series) seems the best. Back when SlateStarCodex was live, the link there was even more valuable.
> Do you know why the attendees come to a talk? (mostly for a speaker/topic, social interaction with like-minded people, other reasons?)
I do not really know, but I think that they are there to hear an interesting talk and specifically for the speaker, as different talks get very different numbers of attendees. A good fraction (half or more) stay for the conversation afterwards, so I guess they are there for that too.
> Is there something specific that you do for people who join for the first time, or give instructions on how to get the most out of the meetup?
The first two minutes explain how it works and encourage people to do things like turn on the video. What other instructions were you thinking of?